NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Forty MTA employees died of complications related to COVID-19 this past month, bringing the agency’s death toll to 123, officials said Wednesday.
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At the MTA’s monthly board meeting on April 22, chairman and CEO Pat Foye said 83 of the agency’s employees had succumbed to COVID-19.
Foye on Wednesday said a total of 123 employees have now died of coronavirus-related complications.
“Unfortunately, we have lost more colleagues since (the April) meeting, and we grieve and mourn their loss,” he said. “We will never forget the dedication, service and sacrifice of these brave men and women.”
Three of the employees who passed away within the past month worked for Metro-North and the Long Island Railroad, an MTA spokeswoman said; the rest were NYC Transit employees.
As of Wednesday, 3,802 MTA employees had tested positive for COVID-19, the spokeswoman added.
In April, the MTA said it would pay a $500,000 “death benefit” to the families of MTA workers who died of COVID-19 as part of an agreement with three labor unions.
Foye has also said the agency will set up a memorial for the employees it has lost.
On Tuesday, the MTA said it would start disinfecting trains and buses using UV light as part of a weeks-long pilot program aimed at making its infrastructure safer.